In Browser Gaming

Browser based casino games were once the poor relation of the downloadable casino. They were technically inferior and were considered much less useful in terms of generating loyal and valuable players. But there is growing evidence that the tables have now turned, and operators and suppliers are increasingly switching their focus towards providing games that can be played instantly without the need to download software.

Technology is one factor behind the reversal of fortunes. Since casino games first entered the online sphere, broadband penetration has increased and web browsers have improved, meaning developers are now able to offer better quality browser based games. According to Joachim Timmermans, head of casino and games at Unibet, the original weaknesses of browser based gaming have all but disappeared.

'The web approach started off with Java casino games that did not offer the greatest experience, they felt and looked clunky. The richness of the graphics through Flash or similar and the overall experience of playing through a web browser is now virtually comparable to the experience in a download client. If the download client content quality and experience had increased in parallel with the equivalent on the web then there would still be an argument for them, however this difference is minimal today.'

Some also credit the rise in social networking sites as having produced new players that are used to the instant games format. Tapping into this new player base was a key factor in InterCasino¹s recent decision to add a mini lobby of instant play-for-free games to its site, says Regis Pissot, InterCasino's head of casino.

'The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites which have games applications has led to an increase in the number of people who are used to playing games online. It is bringing a new crowd to the industry. What we are looking at is acquiring these players to play instantly and then we will look at converting them into play-for-real players.'

'Browser based games are by no means new ­ many operators have been offering both download and instant play games for many years, but Pissot says there has been an important shift in the way they are marketed. Instant play is not new, what is new is the place it is taking on operators' home pages. It used to be the second choice, typically on an online casino you would have first the download button then you would have the instant play button as a second choice. But now we are seeing both buttons on the home page pushed
the same way, with 50/50 prominence.'

Shifting focus
His views tie in with comments by Playtech's CEO Mor Weizer in the company's results statement last August. Weizer described the company's recent deal to provide Betfair's web-based casino as one which 'reflects a shifting market focus towards one where a complementary web-based offering is becoming equally important to the traditional high definition download product, particularly for attracting new players to try out games for the first time'.

Betfair is not alone in combining a focus on sport with a focus on instant play ­ many sportsbooks have always adopted such an approach. For them, download casinos were never the smart choice and it made far more sense from a business perspective to cross sell browser based games to their clients than to try to get them to download casino software.

Paul Fitchford, casino operations manager at Boylesports, says this has certainly been the case for their players. 'Being a sportsbook-based operator I think the majority of our customer base is better suited to an
'instant play' type of platform. If you look at how successful the 'games' tabs on the larger operators have been during 2010, it¹s quite clear that sometimes people just want to have a quick few hands on Blackjack or spin on Roulette without the hassle of downloading a full-on casino package.'

One stop shop
Johan Öhman, CEO at Net Entertainment, says the evolution of the sportsbook industry meant browser based games were its obvious first choice. 'When this industry came about, many online betting sites only offered sports betting. But quite a long list of products have since been added to these sites. They
have gone from being sportsbetting sites to gaming portals and the entire business idea of these sites today is actually to cross sell new products to their players. If you think about it, to have a download part in that
instance, where players are sent away to a product which is downloaded onto their PC and where they play without seeing whatever other products are on the website, is absolute madness. It is contrary to the business idea.'

It isn't just sportsbooks who want to cross sell. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, few operators can now afford to be too focused on one product area. And with the increase in the number of games developers in the marketplace, operators are spoilt for choice if they are looking to add to their games mix. The traditional 'exclusivity' model, where an operator chose one software supplier for all of their casino games, is increasingly being challenged as operators look to complement their standard suite of games with content from other providers. This may not be good news for suppliers, but it looks certain to be good news for operators and end-users, particularly as the increase in competition is likely to force games
designers to come up with ever more innovative products.

'The online casino landscape has changed considerably since the early noughties. The suppliers were over reliant on their download technology and ignored the needs of the new kids on the block, the one stop shops, which are typically sportsbooks by nature. This created a new opportunity for other companies to come on the market to offer web based casino content,' says Timmermans.

'The old model of exclusivity was easily maintainable at the time, the software offered was owned by the supplier and content available through it was for the supplier to decide. There was no route to market for other casino suppliers with the operators, unless by offering another separate software client, which is just unpractical for both operator and customer. Today, the operator's ability to sign up several casino suppliers, who integrate on a common open platform and result in the ability to differentiate on casino content, is a proposition too important to ignore.'

Fitchford, however, points out that many of the games operators are pushing their offerings as games rather than as a part of a casino. 'The term casino is getting somewhat confused with games. Many of the open platforms that are available now ­ G2, GTS and Openbet are commonly used under a games tab or something that does not directly relate to casino. This is because the major players do still want a download client since it¹s still the best way to retain players and whoever provides you with that client probably won't want you using someone else¹s content under the casino reference.'

Instant fun
In this sense, operators may simply be taking a 'have your cake and eat it too' approach by adding casino games under a more general games tab and thereby circumventing any issues with their existing casino supplier. Why would they need to negotiate third party content in the casino tab when they can just open up their games tabs and push people there? The simple fact is that most new content is in the form of slot games or a variation of the sort.

'They can continue to push the casino and get people to download for the games marketed there, but if they so happen to go to the games tab looking for some instant fun then they have the content there in front of them. It¹s a very intelligent way of doing business since they're promoting two very seemingly different products, but with a lot of the same content,' says Fitchford.

None of this however, means there is no longer a place for downloadable casinos. Even Net Entertainment, which has focused on browser based solutions since as far back as its inception in 1996, recently designed a download product, although Öhman says this was only developed to stop existing licensees from going to a competitor and does not reflect a change in strategy. Fitchford admits that while Boylesports doesn¹t offer a download product, they probably would if one was available from their software provider IGT. 'In my experience I'd say that the more serious casino player prefers a download client. They like to have a solid piece of software on their PC that offers a full suite of games. I dare say this would vary from operator to operator though, it entirely depends on how a product is marketed and where they see the value.'

quality of product
Pissot, however, argues that download only produces more valuable clients when there are more games on offer. 'The instant play player used to be a more casual one with a lower lifetime value and now this is less the case simply because the quality of the games is the same. Obviously, for us on our play for real instant play the lobby is exactly the same, all the promotions are the same, the only difference is that you get less games. So, to me, if you had the same amount of games, the player value would be exactly the same. It is the quality of the product that makes the value of the player.'

Timmermans adds that download casinos can still be a more suitable option for operators unable to invest in in-house specialists. 'If the operator in question does not have any in-house casino experience that secures customer facing web development to support the games and does not have any marketing tools through its site to incentivise casino customers, it can still be relevant to go with a download solution which offers all that in a package.'

For the moment, it seems that while browser based games have gone a long way towards catching up with their download counterparts, they haven't quite knocked them out of the playing field just yet.